A has some good stuff and nice to see Lee Moses. The Deerhunter and Elliot Smith picks are from "BCB approved modern artists" but the former is a cracker. There's some dreck too mind, that Autechre track for example or the Dead Moon track. That Bush Tetras track is one of those fantastically unfunky post punk things that makes me want to drown a dog. B is a bit more obvious but it has some stuff I genuinely love like Todd and Nyro and the Mac.

Someone's not seen a Wire comp for many a long year, if ever. Wire doesn't include any artist you've ever heard of, or will ever hear of again, and will never even feature in the mag. I don't understand why they do that, but they do.

Like fast-moving clouds casting shadows against a hillside, the melody-loop shuddered with a sense of the sublime, the awful unknowable majesty of the world.

Elliot Smith is terminally dull, which seems to be one of the qualifications in being approved of around here. Mercenárias was surprisingly listenable, and short. I quite liked that. Anna Karina seems to be doing Hang on Sloopy badly. Deerhunter seem very earnestly dull. Les Moses is a great name, I can't decide if he's a rasta darts player, or a French anarchist collective. Songs alright, for that kinda thing which I don't generally listen to.

B was an initially crap list, which improved itself for round 2, then rolled around in its own shit again. But that Vic Chesnutt song is surprisingly good, even if once again, it ain't my kinda thing. That last track sounds like something Jools Holland would love though, and sinks the list for good.

A

Like fast-moving clouds casting shadows against a hillside, the melody-loop shuddered with a sense of the sublime, the awful unknowable majesty of the world.

Oof. 2 mixed bags, really. B's second half of the list has kinda petered out for me, a lot of just 'ok' with only 2-3 I love. A's list isn't totally my thing but has some unexpected sparkle from the Mercenarias, who I haven't heard before but will investigate, cheers. The Deerhunter & Lee Moses ending is more my thing too.

Leon Russell sounds like he's doing Mott the Hoople in the club style on Shooting Stars. A is all over the place but it seems more heartfelt and it takes more risks, even if they don't always pay off. I'm not a massive Elliott Smith fan, to say the least, but he sounds pretty good as just one song in a compy.

(a/]

Apologising for the incitement of racial hatred in modern-Day Britain, Toby wrote:Also, what sort of society do we live in where jokes about religious garb or dress can't be made?